CCJ coordinates a reunion of ex-war correspondents in Cambodia

The Club of Cambodian Journalists will coordinate a visit to reunite foreign war correspondents who worked in Cambodian between 1970 and 1975.

More than 50 foreign journalists will arrive in Cambodia late in April for a Reunion of the foreign journalists who worked in Cambodia while the country was in war between 197- and 1975.

The foreign journalists are expected to arrive in Cambodia on 20 April.

During their stay in Cambodia, they will discuss about the construction of a memorial for the foreign journalists who were killed or died when they worked in Cambodia during the war time. At least 37 foreign journalists were killed or missing in Cambodia between 1970-1975

The Cambodian ministry of information Â said that 10 Japanese journalists were among the 37 journalists who were killed or missing between 1970 and 1975 when the Khmer Rouge toppled the Lon Nol regime. According to the media casualities of the Cambodian war from 1970 to 1975,the ten Japanese journalists who were killed or missing, are :

Akira Kusaka, Fuji TV (1970)

Yujiro Takaji, Fuji TV (1970)

Takeshi Yanagisawa Nihon Denpa (1970)

Teruo Nakajima, Omori Inst (1970)

Tomoharu Iishi CBS cameraman (1970)

Kojiro Sakai, CBS sound (1970)

Yoshihiko Waku, NBC sound (1970)

Kyoichi Sawada, UPI photographer (1970)

Taizo Ichinose (1973)

Koki Ishiyama Kyodo (1974)

Japan accounts for the largest number of the 37 foreign journalists who were killed or missing in the Cambodian war between 19701975. The others include 8 from France, 7 from USA, four Cambodian, 2 from Switzerland, 1 from west germany, 1 from Austria, 1 from Netherlands, 1 from India, 1 from Laos, and 1 from Australia.

Khieu Kanharith, the information minister, said that the figure is higher than the number of foreign journalists who were killed or missing in the Vietnam war between 1965-1975.

Khieu Kanharith, the minister of information, in his letter to the Phnom Penh governor, asked the Phnom Penh city to buil a

memorial for the dead or missing journalists and photographers.

He said that the memorial is to pay respect to the dead or missing foreign journalists and to attract their family to visit Cambodia.